, 1887-09-22
crushed man OF i,--S '-!a:n pow r oi
less integrity.

less Integrity
Anent the advent of Willard into
the directorate of the \. Z. r. r., it
is well to remember that this great
man was one of the few-the very
few-tnen who ever went down from
such giddy hight as he had attained
with clean hands and an honest re-
cord. He possesses in remarkable
degree the power of inspiring conf
dence in himself This confidence he
never betrays, and when the cyclone
of disaster struck him in 1888, he
turned over without reserve his en-
tiro fortune to his creditors. He
looked penury and want squarely in
the face, and made no effort to keep
back one penny that justly belonged
to another. Only such a man could
rise again. He deserves to rise, and
rise be must if life and health are
spared him. He will yet be the
greatest magnate the railroad world
has ever known. He is and has been
a true friend of Washington Terri
tory.
1t was not ''the Methodists" who
treated Port Townsend so unjustly.
1t was few unworthy men-impor-
tations from eastern conferences
(some of them having come here
since the contract was made, but who
did not have sufficient sense of pro-
priety to decline acting on contract
which they had not helped to create); ];
these were mainly the instigators and
engineers of the reputation scheme.
Public condemnation will speedily
settle down upon the few who merit
individual reprobation. The most
efectual way for the great body OF
the laity within the bounds of the
Puget Sound conference to show to
the world their disapproval of repudi
alton of business contract will be to
assist literally in building the insti
tuition to which Port Townsend has a
right That institution, if we mis-
take not, will ornament the Briggs
site. The whole Puget Sound basin
may be properly and speedily can
vassed for contributions to assist in
its erection and endowment-and we
believe such an effort would meet
with most gratifying response. Our
citizens may count upon the success
Of such an appeal if they choose to
authorize it. 1t we do not push this
matter to successful issue it will be
our own faults.
SPECIFIC INFoRMATIoN.-The Taco
ma Ledger responds to our sugges-
tien that it can be- accommodated
with specific information about the
university matter. 1t asks: I'll
there was no time clause as an essence
of the contract, what became OF the
ninety day clause which Mr.. Wei.
himself proposed and inserted as q
part of the agreement" Mr.. WeiI
did not propose nor insert, as q part
OF the agreement any ninety day
clause. After the contract was made
land there was no time clause in it
he suggested that conference should
instruct its committee OF appraisement
and its trustees to proceed within
reasonable time to complete prelim.
inaries, whenever the bonus was
raised, and not wait till the next an
nuai session of the conference. This
much was suggested by way of ex-
pediting the affair and spurring up
the Port Townsend people with the
knowledge that the sooner they
raised the bonus the sooner the uni
versity would progress. The sugges-
ton was acted upon by conference on
the last day of its session, over two
days after its contract had been
closed, and the result appeared in
resolutions ''empowing" the appraise-
ment committee to complete pre-
lIminary arrangements for accepting
the site" within ninety days after the
bonus had been raised--and also in
structing them to call the trustees
together ''tcheaever" the bonus should
be raised. whenever" does not
mean within ninety days, or within q
hundred days, or within any specific
time Rev. Devore showed has anti
tude at quibbling by saying at the
recent session that if there was 40
time clause as part of the contract
then the Board Of Trade might take
thousand years. Judge Lewis had
said that a court of justice would hold
In such case that the bonus must he
raised within what would be regarded
by reasonable men considering all
the circumstances, as within reason
abe time. In this case he thought a
reasonable time would be held TO
mean until the next session of the
annual conference, His interprsta-
was adopted as the sense of the board
OF trnsteas. 1t would also be accent
ed 10y any reasonable men anxious to
do right in the premises. Any more
questions, Mr.. Ledgera
The Methodist University.